New 100ft carbon racer launched

An all-new supermaxi racing yacht will line up with the big boys at the start of the Rolex Sydney to Hobart yacht race.

Called Comanche, the new 100 footer was launched this week at Hodgdon Yachts in Maine in the US.

The yacht was built in under 12 months for American billionaire and noted yachtsman Jim Clarke with North Sails' President Ken Read keeping a close eye on proceedings. Read has, in the past, skippered Jim Clark's boats and is widely tipped to be at the helm when the boat heads to Hobart.

All eyes will be on the big boats with Syd Fischer's Ragamuffin 100 just out of the shed after some modifications, and Wild Oates XI looking to extend her record of seven line honours wins. Ragamuffin 100 is the former Investec Loyal, the boat which beat Wild Oats XI over the line in 2011, so the three big 100-footers should be locked in a fierce battle from the starter's gun.

Another interesting maxi to line up will be Rio 100. Readers will better know this boat as Lahana, the Bakewell-White designed boat that was originally launched as a 98-footer. New owner Manouch Moshayedi of California said the boat has been extensively modified. "Brett Bakewell-White did a great job of redesigning his old boat; anyone who sailed on her before would probably not recognise her now," he said.

"The yacht’s water ballast was removed by cutting off the back 50-foot section and a new wider, longer stern has made it six to seven tons lighter than it was as Lahana. It also sports a new, longer boom, a new longer bowsprit and the wheels have been pushed back."

But it will be Comanche, in her first serious hit-out, which will be one to watch. Read says that nobody really know how fast the boat will be but with its lightweight construction and powerful rig, she should certainly give the older, heavier boats a run for the money.

Naval architecture of Comanche is from Van Peteghem Lauriot Prévost (VPLP) and Guillaume Verdier. VPLP and Verdier, each accomplished studios, have previously collaborated on racers.

Read says the Hodgdon Yachts 100 super maxi expands on design elements of a VPLP-Verdier project called Macif. Macif set a 24-hour single-handed distance record of 534 nautical miles at speeds averaging more than 22 knots.

The team at Hodgdon Yachts is expected to rig Comanche in the coming weeks and the take her to Newport R.I. for sea trials before she's de-rigged and put on a ship bound for Sydney.

Photos courtesy of professional sailor Ken Read from the launch.